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THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL. -PORTLAND, 5UNDAY MORNING. AUGUST 17. J9I3.
.nwnAV MnnNTMrt Atir.IKT 17. IQH. 1 '
morrtcttt, ivii. y e BUur company.
77ie fea o the Vanderbilt House
Returns to Newport with His New
Wife to Find His Family Fled, All
His Old Friends " Not at Home,"
and His First Wife the Leader in
His Social Ostracism
Newport, August 7.
rHATSOEVER a man soweth, that
shall he reap," says the Bible,
which also tells In another book
en excellent story of a. man who cold a
birthright for a mess of pottage.
These remarks are apropos to the fact
. that Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt ftnd Mrs.
Alfred Vanderbilt Number Two (who was
Mrs. Margaret Emerson McKlm. of Bal
timore) have returned to Newport from
England bringing with them their youth
ful son and heir..
' .And, returning, Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt
have found themselves effectually frozen
' out of that society of which, had Alfred
Vanderbilt been content with defying; only
halt Its conventions, he might and yrob
ably would be leader to-day. Society has
, put the ban on the Vanderbllts, and they
are as lonely in Newport as beachcombers
, on a Pacific slel ;
In the twelve years since his marriage
with Elsie French, Alfred Vanderbilt, has
run the gamut of human Indiscretions.
Hie return to Newport forced society to
answer the question wnetner u
could possibly condone bo many
breaches of standards as Alfred
Vanderbilt has been guilty of.
Also it' was forced to choose be
tween the first wife of Alfred,
who lfl head of the Newport col
ony, end the second wife of Al
fred, who was Mrs. McKim. Al
most unanimously It was decid
ed that It would not condone,
and that It would stand by the
. first wile
Mrs. Alfred
No. 2
(Formerly
Mr.
Therefore when the Alfreds arrived In
Newport recently they found none of the
Vanderbilt family In residence except the
Reginald Vanderbllts, and of course they,
do not count In glvlnV social or family
recognition. Reginald Vanderbilt, it will ,
be remembered, is Alfred's brother and
the sharer In many a scrape and escapade.
"Where is your mother?" asked the new
wife of Alfred when she arrived.
"Gone to England," replied Reginald.
"Where are your sisterB twain?"
"Gladys la in England and Gertrude is
In Scotland,' answered Reggie, a bit em-
"And where are your cousins and your
aunts?" thus the new Mrs. Vanderbilt
anxiously.
"Just left' for a trip around the world,"
stammered Reggie.
"But didn't they know we were coming
with baby?" asked poor Mrs. Vanderbilt
Number Two.
"Oh, yes, they knew all right That's
wny . Reggie did not finish the answer.
Margaret
Emerson
. McKim 1
' -
Who Meet
Thi Year
at New
port Her
Her
. Bitterest
III! I I r ,1(1 11 1
ryZl. -w. t ?-J 1 r-v- J
: 1 1 ; i . -h X W '$ Av7. W-A" 1 1 1
! . " I , . v t In ! V. A1 -
In silence the little
party made Its way
to Oakland Farms,
the splendid mansion
of the Alfred Vander
bllts. "Aren't there any
of the family here ex
cept you, Reggie?" at
last asked Alfred.
"Oh, yes," replied
the untactful Reggie.
"There's Elsie. Elsie's
the whole show up
here now" - He
stopped at a look
from his brother.
"Elsie?" said the
second Mrs. Vander
bilt. "Elsie?'L Then
she realized that Reg
gie meant the first
Mrs. Alfred, and her
(heart must have
rrown very heavy,
for even . the most
optimistic person
would recognize that
abandoned by his
powerful family and
with his first wife
commanding the field
there was little chance for her husband
to regain his lost social position.
Newport knew this before the Alfreds
arrived. In fact, the newB that they were
coming disturbed that frivolous colony as
It has never perhaps been disturbed. "Is
It bravado op their part?" asked the
matrons. "Surely Alfred at least must
know that he has put himself beyond the
pale." "It Isn't bravado," said others, who
still held a kindly feeling for the holder
of the most of old Commodore Vanderbllts
millions. "He is anxious to realize his
wife's ambitions, and he feels no doubt
that the baby will reconcile him with the
family."
"Well, whatever it Is that makes them
come they're going to make it very awk
ward for everybody," was the general
verdict.
This was only too true. Early in the
Spring the Vanderbilt family had planned
a brilliant season. Mrs. Vanderbilt was
to open The Breakers and have the Laso
Szechenyis with her for the Summer. The
Harry Payne Whltneys were to open their
house on Bellevue avenue, the "Neely's1 to
open Beaulieu, and Mrs. McKay Twombly
was to open her handsome place on the
cliffs Then, like a bolt from the blue,
came word that Alfred intended to come
to Newport. Oh, what a scurry there
wets
Mrs. Vanderbilt ordered the' shutters
nut back on The Breakers ana neu 10
Sussex to stay with the Szechenyis, the
Harry Payne Whltneys took refuse in
Scotland, and the day after the Alfreds
arrived Mrs. Twombly and her daughter.
Kuin, ciuaeu iucii uuuio,
picked up their petticoats
and started for a trip
around the world.
Only the Reggies were
left.
And why do not the
Reggies count? Why is
their influence not suffi
cient to place the Alfreds
back in eociety? Reggie,
the youngest of the family,
has been on the verge of
being kicked out himself;'
be la received only be
cause his wife continues
to. live with him; he has
figured in too many esca
pades to attempt to foist
his brother on Newport.
Of what use is it for the
blind to lead the blind?
It, is a new thing for
a Vanderbilt to be ostra
cised by Society, in which
the family has moved for
two generations- It is
hard "upon Alfred Van
derbilt, for he might
save been a leader in the colony which
now will have none of him. When his
father, the late Cornelius, in a great
error of Judgment, disinherited -Cornelius,
hl3 eldest son, because of his marriage,
and made Alfred his chief heir, he was
given an opportunity to become a social
and financial leader. Instead of doing so,
he kicked away the golden platter on
which the birthright was given.
But if it is hard upon Alfred, there Is
much more to be pitied in the position
of bis second wife. She has striven very
hard for the social acknowledgment which
Is now irrevocably withheld from her.
The story of how Emerson, "the headache '
cure king," and his wife chartered a
yacht and Jpok Vjth Mm. only, young gj,
. Oratt Britain Rights Rsrv, , t . '
. ' ' ' ;nn.iiii m ffiirnii; fjn
Aw bit :7 to Uw T my -
l ... .. , ,., I I 'iiJpXUiW v. V 3f jT i t f X- W I .y) 'Sll1fl IAt MM
if ' . ( li nsilf,H'J ft - !- JT ' " ZjLt 1 ' I iT iHU J FT ' W
47
McKim and their daughter, Margaret, Is
an old one. That trip was planned solely
tor the purpose of letting propinquity
work its way until Dr. McKim would fall
a captive to the charms of Miss Margaret
and ask her to be his wife. Dr. McKlm
at that time represented to the Emersons
the highest point of social attainment
that could be looked forward to. It is on
record that the moment Dr. McKlm pro
posed to Miss Emerson and the glad news
was given to her parents, the yacht was
turned around and made back for Balti
more. But Mrs. McKim soon saw that thera
were heights far beyond her husband's po
sition. She cast her eyes upon Newport
and Alfred, Vanderbilt. Alfred was di
vorced from Elsie French, and Mrs. Mc
Klm was divorced from her husband after
the, payment to him of a large amount of
money for his complaisance. Then they
went to England. No doubt her reception
at Newport has been an enormous shock
to the second wife. Of course one season
she was there before and was ignored
by society, 'because society resented her
friendship for young Vanderbilt. He was
not then divorced; the divorce followed
that season. And yet Mrs. Alfred Number
Two displays astonishment to find that
her husband's first wife is chosen over her
head; that she has not married into the
Newport set by marrying Alfred. 1
"You cannot enter here," says Mrs.
Robert Goelet, as she orders the gates of
Eastbourne closed to the Alfred Vander
bllts. "Nor here, either," says Mrs. El
bridge Gerry, as she tells her butler to say,
"Not at hbme," should the Alfreds call.
There are degrees of ostracism. The
Vanderbllts will be put through them all.
They felt their first great pang when they
were not invited to Mrs. Fish's fairy tale
ball, to which three hundred of Alfred's
former friends were asked. Thse same
three hundred sat "jthemselves down to
dine In Mrs. Hermann Oelrichs's superb
dining room before going on to the ball,
but Alfred and his wife were not among
those present. .
Oakland Farms was left to Alfred by
his father. It Is one of the most luxuri
ous places about Newport. ;lt holds to-day
two of the unhappiest of mortals. , What
means their great wealth if they have no
friends to lavish it on? They are ma
rooned amid its luxurious contents. Does
he blame himself or does be . blame the'
young woman he married, for there is no
doubt that his family at least would re
ceive him If he had not remarried.
When he drives, along Bellevue avenue
and comes face to face with his former
wife, what happens? Mrs. Vandarbilt
looks at him but does not see him. looks
at the woman by his side and does not
see her. When he meets the women he
used to be friendly with, what happens?
If he is alone there are some women who
will stop and chat a few moments with
him, but the spirit of cordiality is gone.
Mrs- .Joe Harrimah, meeting him in
front of the Casino the other day, said:
"Why, hello, Alfred, where did you drop
from? Pleasant weather we are having,
aren't we?"
In the early days she would have wrung
his hand and begged him to "Coma, home
and fhave a bite of luncheon with us.'
If his new wife Is with him, the women
turn to look the .other way;: If brought
face to face, they.. speak tQ her in the
most casual manner. Being a man, Alfred
does not see all the many slights ad
ministered to bis wife by the women who
"FORGOTTEN"
'(With apologies to the old familiar elatslo picture of that name.)
Here are Alfred and his new wife (who has struggled so hard for social
recognition) out in the cold. Newport is frozen to them and they
can only peer from the outside at the inside and mourn. What
a position for the man who ..-.
might have led Newport .
fashion!"
iff W
Wl . iW ' . Mr.. Elsie
tt
French
trbilt. Alfred'
Fir.t Wife.
his first' wife. He feels the greater
slights, however, and writhes under them.
Mrs. Payne Thompson, Mrs. Ned Berwind,
Mrs. "Normie" Whltehouse, have neither
called on his new wife nor allowed her to
be presented to them. Mrs. Ava Astor,
recently installed at Beech wood, gave them
both$he cut direct the day she arrived,
They live in splendid isolation, unhon
ored and unsung, Invited nowhere.
"The Alfred Vanderbllts?" asked some
one the other day at the Casino. "Have
they returned?" Dear me, how can they
have the courage?"
"No, indeed, I have not called; npr do
r Intend to."
Contrast their fate with that of the first
Mrs. Alfred. She is,, the most popular
hostess in the colony. Harborvlew, her
magnificent estate, Is . the scene of one
dance after another, one dinner after an
other. Her Invitations are never refused.
She is the guest of honor at Mrs. Fish's,
Mrs. Goelet'a, Mrs. Astor'B, Mrs. Gerry's.
These matrons are at her back in her
fight to keep her former husband and his
wue out of society.
Alfred Gywnne Vanderbilt in
- Coaching Costume.
It not for his wealth. He presented. CO
Newport a splendidly equipped Y. M. 0.
'A. building; he has bought interests In
newspapers and magazines, but nothing
has won for him, the birthright he sold
for the mess of pottage.
Where has this social outcast differed
from many others who have trod the
same primrose path? Why have others
been forgiven and Alfred Vanderbilt sent
into, exile? Perhaps because he has not
played the game. The man who plays
the game, even a losing game, re
ceives the respect of his kind if he is a
BportBman. Society would have come to
the forgiveness stage had Alfred not made
a second marriage; given the marriage,
it might have forgiven in time if he had
remained In England. But bis frequent
returns to New York and his efforts to
rehabilitate himself and his present wife
at the expense of his first wife and Bon
have turned society to- adamant. So
ciety may not have a sense of decency,
but it has a certain amount of pride, and
it refuses to accept this man who wilfully
outraged Its conventions. Society assumes
that Alfred Vanderbilt counted onhis
wealth and family to force society to
take him back, and society kicks him
out
After all, the most interesting lesson
taught by this chapter of American family
history Is the foollshnesa of dictating youxv
vu.iueu o urn i wftoo. 4, up utia UOrUBHUB
She is flehtln not
only for herself, but for her son.
'All this time Alfred has Knot stood Vanderbilt disinherited hta
tamely by and made no effort to regain " simply because he married a perfectly!
his birthrtght. He has spent money like estimable girl, whose family position did
,ir Hrl U ,ba? K tha norBe low not suit the father. Alfred got the resi-
o?,? Jhtf madd 5Ii.nan2e -flwoosV.- duary estate that Cornelius lost. Ever
out England because of his cW.hin n. .in !,, rw.n.,., v v : . . .
uuuwvugu iu WilW ujr mt women wno tArnr1nA mnA hla . v.iwM,)jb, uam a moaei
were his friends, and who are friends of Ho?8ri S55r whieSd tiS?f,0 ,tUtn d hPP bnd Vnile AUrel
i9Iaft P0Wg wwca .would not exist wers, hs become a horrible example.
. V